Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Who Is Jason Francia, The Boy Who Claimed Michael Jackson Gave Him Money After Molesting Him?
Jason Francia is the son of Blanca Francia, Michael Jackson’s former maid from 1986 to 1991.
There are a lot of moving pieces and people intertwined during the controversial molestation allegations made against Michael Jackson over the years. Some of these allegations came from one of Jackson’s own employees and her young son.
Jason Francia is the son of Blanca Francia, Jackson’s former maid from 1986 to 1991.
In 1993, Jason Francia told police that Jackson touched his genitals, according to Rolling Stone. His claims came not long after the very first molestation allegations began were brought again Jackson. Earlier that same year, Jordan "Jordy" Chandler, then 13, claimed that the “Thriller” singer molested him repeatedly, according to a lawsuit obtained and published by the Smoking Gun in 2003. Later, Chandler’s family and Jackson settled out of court.
Jason Francia was interviewed as police searched for additional alleged victims of the singer. He initially denied being abused at all but allegedly changed his story that same year to claim that Jackson tickled him and touched his genitals.
He recited a similar story on the stand during Jackson’s 2005 molestation trial after Jackson was accused of additional crimes, this time molesting a boy named Gavin Arvizo.
"I was wearing shorts," Francia testified, according to a 2005 Guardian article, speaking about the first incident which he said happened when he was just seven. "He reached on my leg and he reached up and into my privates."
Francia, at this point 24, testified that Jackson started tickling him while he sat on the singer’s lap and that, “I tickled him back and then we went to the floor, tickling still. And it eventually moved down to my 'little private region', around my crotch area."
A year later, when he was eight, he said a similar incident occurred.
When asked if he knew at the time that something inappropriate had occurred he answered, “yes and no. No because it's all fun and supposed to be innocent and you're having fun and you're a little kid. And yes because it's not right."
Francia also testified that, "Every time I was being tickled there was some sort of exchange of money.”
He also testified that his mother Blanca reached an out of court settlement with the Jackson for $2 million back in 1993.
Watch The Jury Speaks: Michael Jackson on Oxygen, Saturday, March 9 at 9/8c
Blanca Francia told the tabloid program “Hard Copy” in the 1990s that she saw Jackson being inappropriate with her son and that she saw Jackson showering and in a Jacuzzi with young boys, according to a 1994 issue of GQ. She also testified at his 2005 trial that she once saw Jackson and Wade Robson in bed together naked in addition to finding them taking a shower together, according to the Daily Beast.
Jackson was acquitted of the molestation charges.
The new HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland,” slated to air March 3 and 4, focuses on two men, Robson and James Safechuck, who claimed that they were molested by Jackson. The Jackson family has denied the allegations and has denounced Robson and Safechuck as both "opportunists" and "admitted liars,” according to CBS. His estate is also attempting to sue HBO for a $100 million for disparagement, citing a 1992 contract with the entertainer.
